Thursday, May 28, 2020

A Mosaic of Wings by Kimberly Duffy



My thoughts: 
A  wonderfully well written and interesting foray back to the 1880s showing the restrictions and obstacles facing women during those times. Nora, the leading lady, was lovingly raised by her mother  and her professor father who was key in developing her sense of presence, worth, and intelligence. He introduced her to his field of study - entomology, which she found great joy in sharing with him. This eventually led to her  attending Cornell University and studying the world of insects. 
This career goal of Nora's was dismissed as frivolous by her step-father. He tries to rule with an iron fist, making decisions and giving orders to Nora impacting her future college education, employment, and marriage - and to whom she will be married and when. She goes into full-Nora mode.
This means Nora is a free-thinking, highly-vocal, quite opinionated, impulsive, precocious lady that is quite ahead of her time. 
She does manage to be included in a field experience for several months where she traveled to India along with her fellow classmate, Her experiences in India are beautifully described and well articulated by the author. I am definitely not an insect enthusiast, but the author's descriptions of the country with its beautiful scenery and vast population of various insects, butterflies, and other living creatures was well written and I enjoyed reading it.
Nora learned that women and girls in India had less freedom than she herself. Her friendship with a young Indian girl was lovely and permitted Nora to grow personally. It also was her major pitfall as she made some rash decisions that placed her in danger.
A lovely read and a tremendous first publication by this new author, Kimberly Duffy. 
About the book: Determined to uphold her father's legacy, newly graduated Nora Shipley joins an entomology research expedition to India to prove herself in the field. In this spellbinding new land, Nora is faced with impossible choices—between saving a young Indian girl and saving her career, and between what she's always thought she wanted and the man she's come to love.
DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy from Bethany House Publishing to facilitate a review. Opinions are mine, alone and are freely given.

1 comment:

  1. Wonderful review! I'm looking forward to reading this one.

    ReplyDelete

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